When the final whistle blew on the Denver Broncos 2016 season, Donald Stephenson had been consistently ranked and evaluated as one of the worst tackles in the NFL. He thought his first season in Denver might have been his last. Now, after two contract restructures in one offseason, he’s still fighting for a roster spot and assuming nothing.
Eric Goodman and Les Shapiro of AM 1340 | FM 104.7 spoke with Stephenson on Thursday, not long after the details of his second contract restructuring were first reported. Stephenson was candid about his performance last year and his tenuous future with the Broncos.
When asked if he thought at the end of last season he’d be in a Broncos uniform right now, he was to the point.
“No,” Stephenson said.
“I mean, I definitely know I didn’t play as well as I wanted to [last year]. I was disappointed in myself, so I was pretty sure the organization was,” he continued. “That year was probably the worst year I’ve ever had, so I figured I’d get another chance to prove myself.”
The Broncos were clearly willing, having originally signed Stephenson to a three-year contract in March 2016 worth $14 million. Failing to live up to the expectations that came with that contract, Stephenson restructured his contract in Mach 2017, lopping his guaranteed money for 2017 in half from $4 million to $2 million. Even that action, Stephenson said, didn’t mean he was guaranteed a spot.
“I kind of seen (sic) it coming, but it didn’t make it definite that I was coming back,” he said of the first restructure. “But I’ve had a hell of a camp, and I’ve worked pretty hard this camp so I figured that would help me some.”
His performance at camp was seemingly good enough to warrant a spot, but not even at the updated price. On Thursday 9 News in Denver first reported that Stephenson took an overall pay cut, but will see his guarantee go up to $2.5 million for 2017. His 2018 non-guaranteed contract was wiped from the books and he can earn up to his full $4 million this year in incentives.
Even with all that, Stephenson isn’t ready to say his spot is secure,
“It definitely helps,” he said about the second restructure, “but you still never know. I’m not going to hang on anything. I’m just going to keep working, this weekend play my butt off and show what I’m actually capable of doing.”
Stephenson believes he knows what went wrong last year, attributing a number of things to his down season.
“Last year, I really fought through injury. I probably came back earlier than I should have. It kind of caught up with me. My technique wasn’t down. It wasn’t where I usually have it. So, it was a lot of things. Some of it was me, some of it was other things like injuries, but I definitely still wasn’t who I usually am,” he told Goodman and Shapiro.
He’s addressing the issues that caused him to struggle and feels confident about his camp so far; still, he believes his job will be on the table every single week.
“For me, every Sunday, every game is a make or break I feel like. That’s just how this league is. There’s too much talent for someone to go out there and not play well, so I look at every weekend like that.”
Listen to the full interview with Stephenson, including how he’s adjusting to the new offensive system under Mike McCoy, in the podcast below.
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Catch Afternoon Drive with Goodman and Shapiro every weekday from 4p-6p on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 or stream live any time for the best local coverage of Colorado sports from Denver’s biggest sports talk lineup.
